Following reports that WWE had contacted a number of AEW stars, a fresh update has appeared to pour cold water on water on at least some of the speculation.
Back in August it was reported that WWE had contacted “multiple” AEW stars as they attempted to reshape their talent roster in the wake of Vince McMahon’s departure.
This led to Megha Parekh, AEW’s Chief Legal Officer and the promotion’s second in command had emailed WWE’s Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon, warning them “not to tamper” with talent.
In the weeks following the report there has been much speculation over the names involved, especially as Malakai Black has revealed that he asked to the leave the company. A new report has attempted to the clear up the situation about who was contacted and who might be on the move.
The report from Fightful Select claims that Swerve Strickland was contacted by WWE but had no interest in returning to his former home. However, his tag team partner Keith Lee has not been contacted. There had also been suggestions online that Miro had been contacted, however, it is unclear as to whether this actually happened. Although he has not asked to leave AEW.
There were also rumours that Bobby Fish had attempted to get Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly to quit AEW to join him back in WWE. This has been dismissed by sources in both AEW and WWE. Fish has since appeared in IMPACT Wrestling.
With regard to the situation surrounding Malakai Black it was claimed that several higher ups in AEW believed that he wanted to re-join WWE. In addition, he reportedly told one WWE talent that he wished he was back with the company. AEW officials believed that the situation had been “smoothed out” ahead of All Out, but this appeared to not be the case.
One AEW source commented that they expect both Black and Buddy Matthews to be back with the company in a few months. Furthermore, AEW had no interest in releasing Malakai Black to go elsewhere last month.